Home renovation tricks that professionals swear by

Discover the best home improvement tricks and tips that the professionals use and avoid any unforeseen mishaps when you undertake your own DIY.

Whether you’re doing it yourself or getting a team in, it’s always a good idea to have a few home renovation tricks up your sleeve. You never know when they’ll come in useful, and it could even help you spot a project-delaying mishap ahead of time.

Here we’ve gathered the top tips from the pros when it comes to home renovation.

Plan, plan, plan
Plan your project from the very start through to the last detail, before any work begins. Knowing how many stages the project will need and what materials or services you have to budget for, will save any surprises further down the line.

Calculate the costs
During the planning stage it’s important to calculate the estimated cost of every aspect. Consider costs for work done and hire of equipment, along with materials, clean-up costs and any maintenance that’ll be needed afterwards. You should also include any extras that might crop up, such as cost of accommodation if you need to vacate the premises for a few days.

Research your contractors
Before hiring any professionals, do your research. Ask to see examples of other jobs they’ve worked on (visiting one of their current projects if you can), check that they have all the necessary qualifications and, ideally, hire somebody with more than three years experience. You need to trust the team that’s working on your home.

Get DIY plans checked
If you’re carrying out a large scale project yourself, it’s a good idea to get your plans checked over by an architect or structural engineer. Knowing the difference between a load-bearing wall that should stay intact and one you can safely knock-through, is vital. One wrong move and you could have serious - and expensive - damage to deal with.

Make a kitchen camp
If you’re having work done in the kitchen, or somewhere that could make kitchen access difficult, it’s worth setting up a mini camp elsewhere. Invest in a small fridge where you can keep a few essentials, along with a kettle and a microwave oven, so that if you’re limited to just a few rooms for several days, you can still pull together some basic meals and a hot cup of tea.

Use plastic sheets
Covering all your floors and furniture with sheets might protect them from light dust, but what about spillages and heavier debris? To keep furniture clean and damage-free during renovation work, it’s best to look for large plastic sheets that you can pull over everything from sofas to wooden floors. Laying cardboard beneath the plastic will keep hard flooring safe from cracks, scratches and dents, too.

Make design decisions at home
From paint pots to curtains and sofas, don’t make any design decisions under the harsh lighting of a store. Colours, textures and finishes can all look different depending on the light. Instead, bring home a colour sample or fabric swatch, and see how it looks in the room you’re decorating. The same goes for furniture - don’t just guess dimensions, go home and measure-up before investing in something that may not work.

Grease before you paint
Before painting walls, doors or around windows, clean them with a dry cloth (it’s quicker and more effective than a damp sponge), then spread lip balm or petroleum jelly over any window frames, windowsills, door hinges and handles. The greasy balm will make it far easier to clean off any paint splatters afterwards. Adding a few drops of vanilla extract to your paint pot can also help to diffuse fumes and bring a sweeter aroma to your workspace.

Painting

When you are painting inside or out and you don't finish instead of cleaning the rollers & brushes put them in plastic bags & make sure there is no air getting to them, they will be ready to use the next day as it keeps them from drying out